The most common treatments that have been recommended have been ice, rest, immobilization with a neck collar, and anti-inflammaties at the onset of the injury. Eventually physiotherapy is ordered, but often the pain and other accompanying symptoms continue.(2,3)

The reason for this delay in the onset of the pain and symptoms, as well as the cause of the accompanying symptoms including headache, is easily explained by understanding a condition known as Barre-Lieou Syndrome, as well as understanding the activity of the autonomic nervous system.

Three Main Types of Headaches
Almost every headache sufferer will give the history that neck pain accompanies the headache or the headache starts with neck pain. When patients are examined, especially if they are in the middle of a headache, they will have tenderness in the back of the head and neck. Often times the tenderness is severe. This shows the patient and the physician that there is something wrong in the back of the head and the neck that is causing the muscle-contraction, migraine, or cluster headaches.

Researchers have shown that vascular (migraine-type) and muscle-contraction headache sufferers do in fact have musculoskeletal abnormalities in their necks, compared to people without headaches.(4,5)

Muscle-Contraction Headache
The most common form of headache is the muscle-contraction type. It is described as an achy or tight sensation, pressure, or constriction, especially in the back of the neck which often causes headaches in the back of the head and the temple region.

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